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Table of Contents
Title
Here to stay and blow you away with wind turbines!Problem Scenario
As you know, we are wasteful human beings. We consume as much as possible, and then have unused, useless leftovers. Well, considering we waste so much, I want to see if there is a way to prevent all this waste. I am going to build a wind turbine and test whether or not it matters what material we use for the wings. We already know how to build wind turbines and we know it is more eco-friendly because we are not burning fossil fuels. If there is a more efficient material we can use for the wings, we could build new wind turbines that are less wasteful and produce more energy. Another problem would be solved.Broad Question
What is the most effective material to make the wings on wind turbines?Specific Question
Does the material of the wings on a wind turbine effect the energy output?Hypothesis
After testing wood, plastic, and metal wings on a wind turbine, I think metal will produce the highest voltage because it will be carried by the wind and create more powerful turns. If it does create more powerful of turns, there will be a higher voltage.Graph of Hypothesis
Variables
Independent Variable: Wing Material
Dependent Variable: Energy Output
Variables That Need To Be Controlled: Metal, Wind, Turbine, Time
Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation
Turbine-
any of various machines having a rotor, usually with vanes or blades, driven by the pressure, momentum,or reactive thrust of a moving fluid, as steam, water, hot gases, or air, either occurring in the form of free jets or as a fluid passing through and entirely filling a housing around the rotor.
Harness-
to take any form of energy and use it for an important purpose.Energy-
an adequate or abundant amount of such power.Energy Output-
a measured amount of energy that something produces.General Plan
I am going to test whether or not it matters what material is used on a wind turbine's wings and which is possibly the best material. I will build one wind turbine (miniaturized) then use three different materials to build the propellers. When all of the propellers are built, I will attached three of the same material on the wind turbine. I will then take a large fan and have the wind blowing on the wind turbine. I will use a voltage meter to keep track of the energy output. After I have done this with all of the different material wings and measured the voltage, I will write down how much energy they output. I will then graph and compare all of the energy that was put out. I will do the building at school and home, the testing at school, and the graphing at school. The main problem with this experiment is it may not be able to be done in the time allotted Also, I don't know how to build a wind turbine easily, but I am aware of ways to build one. With these problems solved, I can do my experiment successfully.Potential Problems And Solutions
The biggest problem with this project is making sure everyone is safe. If people are near my wind turbine, they may be hit with one of the blades. To solve this problem, I will make sure to use the same amount of tape on each blade and everyone is far away from my project while it is being performed.Safety Or Environmental Concerns
As I said before, someone may be hit while I am performing my project, including me. For safety, I will wear glasses and keep people away from my experiment. With these precautions, everyone should be safe.Experimental Design
What is my experimental unit?
I am measuring the energy output in volts.Number of Trials:
I will measure one material from three feet away, two feet, and one foot at three different wind speeds. This means I will have nine trials for one material, making 27 tests in all.Number of Subjects in each Trial:
There would always be one material for each foot and level.Number of Observations:
27 in total, 9 for one material.When Data will be Collected:
March.Where Data will be Collected:
Mr.Groves ClassroomResources and Budget Table
Detailed Procedure
1. Have turbine already built.2. Plug in fan (21 inches in diameter) to the wall.
3. Place fan exactly 3 feet away from wind turbine.
4. Double check to make sure turbine is sturdy and so is the fan. If either fall over you must start again.
5. Adjust each blades angle to exactly 45 degrees.
6. Once all blades are at a 45 degree angle and the turbine is exactly three feet away from the fan, attach voltage meter to both cords.
7. Attach both black cords and both red cords to each other.
8. Get behind fan and press the button for level one.
9. Remove yourself from anywhere near the fan or wind turbine.
10. Watch the voltage meter and record the average energy output.
11. After recording the voltage, step behind the fan to shut it off.
12. Wait for the fan to completely stop.
13. Turn the fan back on to the next level and repeat steps 3-12.
14. Now, turn the fan to the final level and repeat 3-12 again.
15. Move the turbine to two feet away.
16. Repeat steps 4-12 on the first level.
17. Again, do 4-12 on level two speed.
18. Finally, do 4-12 on level three.
19. Move the turbine to one foot away.
20. Do steps 4-12 yet again.
21. Now turn the fan to level two and repeat 4-12.
22. Finally, turn the fan to the last level and repeat 4-12.
23. Make sure all data is recorded
24. Put fan and turbine away and analyze data.
Photo List
-Me doing the experiment-angling the wings
-the voltage meter
Time Line
Data Table
Data Analysis
All Raw Data
Graphs
Photos
Voltage meter
Plastic Wings on Wind Turbine
Metal Wings on Turbine being blown by the fan
Results
After conducting my experiment, I found that plastic was the best material. I kept all of my variables controlled and in the end, plastic was able to produce the most voltage. When averaged, wood came in second with .4583 volts while metal came to .442 volts. Plastic produced .488 volts on average, crushing the other two materials. Though it may not seem like much, on a much larger scale this would dramatically effect the energy output. In all, after all 27 trials, plastic won out.Conclusion
Plastic was the best wing material, producing .488 volts on average. This may have been purely because the material was different, but it also could have been partially because of the weights of the material. Come to find out, plastic was the heaviest material I had. The other two materials were not nearly the same weight. The weight may have let it have more powerful spins and last longer while when the material weighs less it may spin more but not be very powerful. Though this guess doesn't seem like a very reasonable one, it is the best answer I can come up with. In the end, plastic produced the most volts.Discussion
At first, my project started as a mere interest in renewable energy. As time went on, I discovered it was more than a superficial interest in renewable energy. It became much more in-depth and interesting. I now have done my entire science fair project on what started as a basic interest. I tested different materials for blades on my wind turbine that I built by hand! After multiple tests using balsa wood, plastic, and metal (aluminum), I found that produced the most!My experiment was testing whether or not it mattered what material I used for the blades on a wind turbine. I controlled all elements of this project. The only variable I was unable to control was the weight of each material, but that is to be expected because everything has a different weight. After taking about three weeks or more to build and prepare for my experiment, I was able to do my experiment. I was able to take a fan and use it to blow on on my turbine and the wings spin to create energy. Usually, we use motors to power many things. We often use a battery to make the motor spin, but when you spin the motor the other way, you actually are just running the motor backwards, still producing energy just the other way. This is how my turbine works, and understanding this was key to my project. With a voltage meter I was able to keep track of the energy output from the spinning motor. After trying multiple lengths from the fan and different speeds, plastic produced the most energy. This may purely be because of the weight or the material. No matter what though, plastic did produce the most.
Benefit to Community and/or Science
We already are aware of our overuse of nonrenewable energy, so to replace this excessive use we must find a renewable energy. There are three types of common renewable energy use wind, water, and sun. The one I decided to focus on was wind. I built a wind turbine, using wind to spin the motor connected to the wings. As part of my experiment, I switched the materials of the wings. I used aluminum, plastic, and balsa wood for my materials. After many tests, I found plastic produced the highest voltage. This is valuable to our world because we are using up so many natural resources that are nonrenewable and eventually these resources we have been using for years will be gone and unavailable to us. Also, it is hurting our environment to use these resources the way we are. We will always have wind because our earth is spinning on it's axis, so wind would be always available to us. Now, if we are going to build wind turbines, we should know what material will produce the most energy so we don't waste money randomly making turbine wings. As you can see, my information is very useful to the entire world for many reasons.Background Research
The idea of wind power has been around for centuries. Some of the first ones can be traced back to Holland, where they used the wind to grain meal for food production. This method is still used in some areas because it is cheap and is almost like having a piece of history. Today though, our society has designed similar structures except these are using the energy that is produced to power towns. The difference in structure is the current one we have today has three wings, not 4 like the first ones. Also, the base is much thinner because we do not need to grind food with it now, but we need the energy to turn on our lights, use our hair dryers, watch tv, and all sorts of objects we often use everyday. Also, we need more than just one wind turbine now. We need multiple to power towns and even cities. As you can see, wind has been a huge part of our past and culture in our world.References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_turbineAbstract
Excessive use of electricity in our modern society is inevitable. We use electricity for almost everything we do, and it's horribly wasteful. Fortunately, there is a way to be less wasteful: wind power. I was intrigued at the idea of renewable energy which made me decide to do my project testing whether or not there is a more efficient material we can use. I predicted that metal would produce the most because the metal (I thought) was going to be the heaviest. For my test I took a fan and put it in line with my miniature wind turbine and kept track of the energy output with a voltage meter. I was able to control wind speed, metal, angles, and the time it ran. In the end after analyzing the data, I found that plastic was the best. Incidentally, it is the heaviest. Whether because of weight or material type, plastic was by far the best.